Optokinetic stimuli: motion sickness, visual acuity, and eye movements

Area of Science:

• Visual perception
• Human-computer interaction
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Motion sickness is commonly attributed to vection, the illusion of self-motion induced by visual scenes.
• The relationship between vection and motion sickness requires further investigation, particularly with modern visual display technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if motion sickness and vection are correlated.
• To compare sickness and vection induced by real versus virtual visual displays.
• To assess the impact of visual fixation on motion sickness and vection.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using optokinetic drums and virtual reality simulations.
• Experiment 1 compared sickness and vection from real and virtual optokinetic stimuli.
• Experiment 2 examined the effect of visual fixation on sickness and vection in a virtual environment.

Main Results:

• Motion sickness and vection ratings were correlated between real and virtual conditions, but vection and sickness were not correlated with each other.
• Poor visual acuity was associated with increased sickness.
• Visual fixation reduced motion sickness but did not affect vection.
• Motion sickness correlated with visual acuity when fixation was absent.

Conclusions:

• Vection is not the primary driver of motion sickness from optokinetic stimuli.
• Vection is influenced by peripheral vision, while motion sickness is influenced by central vision.
• Visual acuity is associated with motion sickness when visual tracking is unrestricted.
• Virtual displays are viable tools for studying visually induced motion sickness.